Vindicianus

ON SAINT VINDICIANUS, BISHOP OF CAMBRAI AND ARRAS,

YEAR 712.

Preliminary Commentary.

Vindicianus, Bishop of Cambrai and Arras in Belgium (Saint)

[1] Among the ancient Bishops of Cambrai and Arras, illustrious for divine zeal and holiness of life, counting from Saint Vedast, of whom we treated on the sixth of February, Saint Vindicianus is numbered as the eighth: who succeeded Saint Autbert, deceased on the thirteenth of December of the year 675, at least the following year 676, Time of his tenure and death when among the Franks after the death of Clothar III, Theodoric was reigning, and when the latter was then deposed, Childeric assumed that kingdom: as we have set forth at length in the Life of Saint Sigebert the King, on the first of February at number 89. That he occupied his see for thirty-six years and departed from life in the year 712, Colvenerius reports in his notes to chapter 28 of book 1 of the Chronicle of Balderic on the Bishops of Cambrai and Arras, as being the one who in the year 710 consecrated Saint Hadulph, Abbot of the Vedastine monastery: which will need to be more accurately demonstrated on his birthday, the nineteenth of May. The day of death of Saint Vindicianus is assigned as the eleventh of March: inscribed in the manuscript Martyrologies of the Cathedral Church of Arras sacred cult: and of the monasteries of Marchiennes and Anchin in these words: "In the territory of Arras, the deposition of Saint Vindicianus the Bishop." The place of deposition is Mont-Saint-Eloi, a mile and a half from Arras, an illustrious abbey of Canons Regular. The same is reported on this day by Hermann Greven and Molanus in their additions to Usuard, the author of the manuscript Florarium, Galesin, Canisius, Balinghem, likewise Molanus in his Birthdays of the Belgian Saints, Miraeus in his Belgian Calendars, Ghini in his Birthdays of the Saints of the Canons Regular, Ferrarius, and others.

[2] Saint Vindicianus is celebrated with an Office of nine Lessons on this day in the Cathedral Church of Arras and its diocese: and with the most solemn rite of the first class among the Canons Regular of Mont-Saint-Eloi: Ecclesiastical Office: whose Abbot we met at Arras in the year 1662, and from whom we received the Life of Saint Vindicianus together with the Chronicle of Mont-Saint-Eloi, collected from various documents by his predecessor Francis Doresmieux. Life written: Jean Gamans visited the latter around the year 1637, as he then wrote to us, and found the man already for twenty-four years so studious of and skilled in the histories of his monastery and the annexed Priories that he was the first to arrange them all in proper books, and had a most ready memory of even the smallest detail of time. We therefore had this Life of Saint Vindicianus copied for us, and we give it, with certain digressions and matters less necessary to our purpose deleted. Much concerning the same Bishop is found in Balderic, book 1, chapter 20 and following, and Walter, Abbot of the Holy Sepulchre at Cambrai, both of whom flourished in the eleventh century of Christ. We received from the said monastery of the Holy Sepulchre the Life of Saint Vindicianus collected by Walter, but plainly mutilated, which we have collated with the other one to be given by us. The same, abridged by them, was published by Lippeloos, Haraeus, Gazet, Rosweyde, and others. Certain sacred bones of Saint Vindicianus are reported to be preserved at Cambrai in the church of Saint Autbert of the Canons Regular, in the Belgian Hierogazophylacium of Arnold Raisse, page 81. Relics: Concerning the body, held in the greatest veneration up to now at Mont-Saint-Eloi, the Acts themselves treat; day of the Translation. where at number 24 it is said that the anniversary of the Translation is celebrated on the Nones of July, on which day in the Martyrology of Saint Eligius the following is read according to Molanus: "On the same day, the Translation of our most holy Father Vindicianus." Balinghem also mentions the same in his Marian Calendar.

LIFE

By Francis Doresmieux, Abbot of Mont-Saint-Eloi.

Vindicianus, Bishop of Cambrai and Arras in Belgium (Saint)

CHAPTER I

The life of Saint Vindicianus before his episcopate; his extraordinary virtues in that dignity.

[1] It is established from the sacred records of our native writers that the Church, both of Arras and of Cambrai, was founded by the labor and preaching of Saint Vedast, and thereafter for a long period administered by only one Bishop, After other Bishops and had many Pastors, succeeding one another in unbroken series, most eminent in all doctrine and piety: for whom nothing was more important than disseminating and propagating the word of God throughout these regions and procuring the salvation of souls. Among these, the most holy Father Vindicianus stood out most prominently, by far the most illustrious Bishop of Arras and Cambrai: Saint Vindicianus presided over the Church of Arras and Cambrai: who, as a rival of the apostolic life, had nothing as his first priority other than continually refreshing the sheepfolds entrusted to him with divine nourishment, constantly devoting himself to pious works, and finally shrinking from no labor: so that he might win his people for Christ, and guard intact and inviolate the immunities and rights of the Church. We do not here wish with useless curiosity to inquire whether he was born of noble stock, since I see that Balderic, Bishop of Noyon, and Walter, Abbot of the Holy Sepulchre, who recorded most of his deeds in writing, are entirely silent on this matter: for the lot of birth is not in our power. But since, according to the old saying, the brave are born from the brave and good; there is no doubt that so great a man was brought into the light by excellent and most pious parents, just as we see more generous fruits come forth from all the nobler plants. Horace.

[2] born at Bullecourt around the year 620 Around the year of the Lord six hundred and twenty, our Vindicianus is born at Bullecourt, a village of Artois, which is situated in the territory of Bapaume. Nor is he thought to have received that name at random, in imitation namely of that Vindicianus, once a most famous physician, of whom Saint Augustine makes mention in his fifth letter. For just as he was regarded as most skillful and at the same time most rigorous in overcoming bodily diseases and healing wounds; so too our Vindicianus seemed to have been born for this, that one day, placed over the Church, he would develop into a most famous spiritual physician: who would prescribe salutary remedies and antidotes, now milder, now more bitter, as the occasion demanded, to various persons: which he in fact courageously performed toward Theodoric, King of the Franks. From his earliest age he seemed to have imbibed piety together with his nurse's milk; he grew up with piety and the fear of God: so much so that even as a tender youth, he was wholly inclined toward the ecclesiastical profession and sacred matters.

As the years advanced, the fear of the Lord grew equally, spurred by which, having voluntarily renounced all the pleasures to which youth is usually prone, he cared for this one thing alone: that he might frequently travel from his rural property of Bullecourt to the neighboring city of Arras by a certain road, at that time untrodden by any human footsteps, which even today is called Vindiciana after his name. There he was accustomed to visit the churches for the purpose of prayer, and especially to devote himself to hearing sacred sermons with attentive ear and mind. He had built for himself at Anzin, not far from that city, a certain anchoritic oratory, where he might more tranquilly direct his whole mind to the contemplation of heavenly things. In that retreat, while he ruminated upon the sermons he had heard, and at the same time diligently perused the volumes of the ancient Fathers, he restrained the wantonness of the flesh with constant vigils and fasts. Occupied with these exercises, while he also performed all the duties of charity toward his neighbor, it can scarcely be said how much progress he made in acquiring the other virtues in a short space of time. instructed by Saints Eligius In this matter he was greatly aided by the conversation and companionship of the divine Saint Eligius, Bishop of Noyon, who used frequently to retire to a certain mount adjacent to Esquavin, at that time uninhabited and deserted (it was afterward called Eligian), for the purpose of prayer and meditation. For when he had also prepared an oratory for himself there, and had established for himself ten pious men, who would live separately, like the ancient anchorites, and serve God, he had been accustomed to visit them frequently together with Blessed Vindicianus. He indeed, having professed the same manner of life, strove more and more to imitate them, and to surpass himself, so to speak, daily. And that he might accomplish this with greater fruit, he frequently associated with the divine Saint Autbert, his own Bishop, and Autbert: and other men flourishing with the praise of holiness; and like bees, which make honey from various blossoms, he studied to express each of their particular gifts, and to acquire for himself a kind of encyclopedia of all the virtues. For from some he strove to learn patience, gentleness, and tireless zeal in helping his neighbor; from others, modesty, chastity, opportune silence, and contempt for fleeting things.

[3] Endowed with such great virtues, he could not long remain hidden. At that time the divine Saint Amandus, Bishop of Maastricht, was in the city of Arras, together with the divine Rictrude, summoned by Saint Amandus, he subscribes the testament of Saint Rictrude: who, before she entered her monastery of Marchiennes, had determined to make her testament through his services, having piously distributed all her goods. To accomplish this matter, besides Bishop Autbert and the Archdeacon Honoratus, Amandus also summoned Vindicianus, moved by his distinguished reputation: who in that business abundantly exercised the powers of his shrewd judgment and talent, having approved and signed the testament of the Lady Rictrude. At that time those two holy Bishops seemed to devote themselves especially to this concern: namely, that in various places of both dioceses many temples and monasteries should be erected with an endowment, with such result that very many persons of every order, sex, and age would voluntarily flee to them as to certain and safe asylums of their salvation, having repudiated the deceptive allurements of this world: whom those excellent Pastors accompanied with the greatest affection and all benevolence and aid. Indeed the divine Autbert, anxious like the divine Amandus about choosing a successor for himself, so that he might more readily dedicate himself entirely to the meditation of divine things, fixed his eyes and mind upon Vindicianus alone, on account of his distinguished gifts of soul, by Saint Autbert judging even then that he would be equal to bearing so great a burden. For he knew he is appointed Vicar of Arras: how great was his learning, how great his eloquence, and with what fervor and spirit, impelled, he approached the cultivation of the Lord's vineyard. Having therefore summoned him from his retreat at Esquavin to the city, he appointed him Vicar of Arras. In which office he so conducted himself that he seemed to have set before himself as his model precisely the particular virtues of the divine Autbert. And since he was endowed with such piety and character, he is present at the Translation of Saint Vedast it is likely that around that time Vindicianus contributed his counsel and resources to the building of the church and monastery of Saint Vedast: and that he was present at his translation from the church of the Virgin Mother of God to this monastery, together with the divine Audomarus and other holy men. Likewise that he was present with the divine Eligius, who had been summoned for this purpose by the divine Autbert, at the translation of the divine Furseus: and of Saint Furseus. and finally that he was a perpetual companion of the blessed Eligius, when the latter with incredible zeal and labor was everywhere seeking out the bodies both of Martyrs and of Confessors.

[4] Already from that translation of the body of the divine Vedast, some time had elapsed, when Autbert made an end of living, leaving behind a very great longing for himself among all good people, both on account of the deplorable loss of so great a Bishop, and most especially he is ordained Bishop: because, overtaken by death, he had been unable to complete the Vedastine monastery which he had begun. But Blessed Vindicianus, having been appointed to succeed him in the Episcopal See, considered that he must not depart even a nail's breadth from following in the footsteps of his predecessor. With great courage and industry, therefore, and sparing no expenses, he completes the Vedastine monastery: having undertaken to press on with that interrupted work, he at length happily completed it. Thence, mindful of his condition, he was considered to have omitted nothing of those things which could be desired for fulfilling the office of an outstanding Pontiff. he fulfills the office of a good Pastor: For he himself fed the sheep committed to him, and led them into the most abundant pastures, sought what had perished, brought back what had been cast away, healed what had been broken, and guarded what was strong and fat; and in short performed all those things which God Almighty requires of good Pastors through the Prophet Ezekiel. For nothing was more humane in Vindicianus toward the good, nothing more severe toward the wicked, nothing more munificent in allaying the hunger of the poor and covering their nakedness, nothing in short more ready for performing the other duties of charity which are prescribed by the divine Apostle Paul for Bishops. He was accustomed frequently to walk through the towns and villages of his diocese; to sow the word of God; and to relieve afflicted people with material aid and conversation. And since he was truly lovable on account of his heroic physical stature, it can scarcely be expressed in words how modestly and sweetly he was accustomed to conduct himself toward every class of people, as the matter and place demanded. Intent on such pious works, he quickly extended the fame of his name not only through the neighboring cities but also through far distant provinces. And although he was also detained by constant secular business, he nevertheless not rarely withdrew from the Episcopal court to the Vedastine Religious, he benefits the Vedastines: in whose companionship he was wonderfully delighted. He embraced them with such great love and affection that, like a most indulgent parent, he procured for this family all the goods which he could either obtain from nobles without injury to anyone, or could scrape together by his own frugality and thrift. Nor did he cease to do this until Hatta, the first of the Vedastine Abbots, began to administer that house.

[5] he subscribes the testament of Saint Amandus: Meanwhile the divine Amandus, as if he were foreseeing his impending death, determined to consecrate the church of his Elnone monastery which he had built. And so that the dedication might be more solemn, he summoned Reolus, Bishop of Reims, and Vindicianus, Bishop of Cambrai or Arras. When this was accomplished, he also wished to make his testament, in which he holy provided, under penalty of anathema, that after his death his body should not be transferred elsewhere by anyone outside the precincts of the monastery, but should be permitted to rest there with his Brethren, with whom he had lived in the greatest concord, until the angelic trumpet should call and summon the entire human race to the resurrection and the dreadful tribunal of the supreme Judge. His testament was signed by the other Bishops and especially by Blessed Vindicianus in these words: "I, Vindicianus, a sinner, Bishop, at the request of my lord Amandus, have confirmed and signed this letter." About the same time, John, the lord of Hasnon, aided by the wealth of Eulalia, his most pious sister, after he had built a notable monastery in that territory, Vindicianus was summoned there, he consecrates the church of Hasnon. to consecrate the church and at the same time to introduce chosen men and women within the cloister of that monastery, so that they might live separately in that holy place and serve God. This was accomplished by Blessed Vindicianus with great speed and the eager concourse of very many ecclesiastical and secular persons.

p. Between the town and the Amandine monastery and Marchiennes, the monastery of Hasnon was built in the fourth year of Theodoric, the year of Christ 683.

CHAPTER II

More illustrious deeds during his episcopate.

[6] In the same year, on the third day before the Nones of November, an unheard-of deed occurred, which it is fitting to briefly recall here. The body of Saint Maxellendis the Virgin, A certain Harduin, of noble birth among the people of Cambrai, was desperately in love with the Virgin Maxellendis,

who was also born of noble and pious parents, and when he courted her in vain for marriage (for she had dedicated her body and soul to Jesus Christ, prepared rather to meet death than to violate the faith given to so great a Spouse, certain in any event to obtain the twofold palm of virginity and martyrdom in heaven), headlong in his fury, he killed the girl with his own hand. the Martyr, out of love for chastity, But the moment he saw blood flowing from the chaste body, he was deprived of his sight, his companions immediately fleeing in excessive fear, lest they too should suffer something similar. Soon the parents, stricken with immense grief, arrived, and buried the body of their slaughtered daughter in the church at Pommereuil, where it rested for a full three years, until Almaldrudis, an illustrious and religious matron, divinely admonished, informed Vindicianus that it was pleasing to God that he himself should bring back the body of the holy Virgin to the place where she had suffered; he transfers it in solemn procession: asserting that he would shortly be made illustrious by various miracles. Without reluctance Vindicianus acquiesced to Almaldrudis: indeed, with no delay interposed, he summoned a great multitude of Clergy and people, and having first proclaimed fasts and prayers, he began to translate the sacred relics of the Virgin, as he had been commanded. In that procession, before the crowd he himself walked first, full of spiritual joy, so that he seemed in a certain way to resemble King David, once singing and exulting before the Ark of the Covenant. But O stupendous prodigy! Behold, Harduin, that murderer of the virgin, made aware of this event, asked in his blindness to be led to the sacred body. After he arrived there, having seriously detested his crime with a bitter flood of tears, he recovered his sight. Thence, throwing himself at the feet of Vindicianus, he confessed the entire sequence of events he makes known her virtues in a sermon and was absolved. The people, however, astonished at so great a miracle, when they heard Vindicianus discoursing at length about the virtue and power of this Virgin, were joyfully pouring forth praises of God Almighty, because He had conferred upon their Bishop, a most zealous and scrupulous defender of purity and chastity throughout his entire life, this special grace, by which he had merited to bury with his own hands the bones of the Blessed Maxellendis, worthy of honor.

[7] In Hainaut, Humbert, Abbot of Maroilles, when he had purchased from his grandmother Andelina, for cash, the fields, estates, pastures, woodlands, and all the rights which she possessed in the territory of Cysoing on the river Iser, he confirms the donations of Maroilles: liberally assigned all of these, with great imprecations added, to his monastery (which the divine Humbert had formerly begun), and that donation, so that it might be valid and binding in perpetuity, he holy confirmed in the presence of Blessed Vindicianus and other distinguished men whom he had expressly summoned.

[8] In Francia, Theodoric the King had succeeded his brother Clothar; the Franks, however, in a revolt, seceded from him, driven especially by hatred of Ebroin, who had recently exercised sheer tyranny under King Clothar. Hence Childeric, King of Austrasia, was put in the place of Theodoric; and Saint Leodegar, Bishop of Autun, in the place of Ebroin. Then King Childeric, on account of his luxurious and most dissolute life, was killed by his own people, with great tumults arising everywhere throughout the kingdom. Accordingly Theodoric was ordered to reign again, and Ebroin, restored to his former dignity, King Theodoric again became Mayor of the Palace. He left nothing unattempted for exercising vengeance, nothing undared for perpetrating any outrage: he also captured Saint Leodegar together with his brother Gerinus in the city of Autun and brought them under his power. Gerinus he stoned to death before him: then, Saint Leodegar, nearly killed by the squalor and starvation of a most foul prison, permits Ebroin he ordered his eyes to be gouged out, his lips and tongue to be cut off, and the soles of his feet to be cut with iron, with the design that the latter, overcome by the atrocity of the torments, might fall into despair, and thereby lose the palm of martyrdom, to have Saint Leodegar's eyes gouged out: for which the innocent and blameless man yearned. Ebroin, not yet satisfied with so many evils, but more and more inflamed with desire for vengeance, persuaded King Theodoric to call a certain assembly at Compiegne. There, besides secular magnates, many Bishops came, toward whom Ebroin was hostile. It happened, however, by a certain divine providence, Saint Vindicianus arranging, that in that such-as-it-was Synod, very many things conducive to the public welfare were established; and our Vindicianus, with his admirable dexterity, won for himself the good will of both the King and the nobles and Bishops. And since they knew with what zeal and desire he burned for adorning the house of God, seeing that he had already long ago from his own estate enriched his Cathedral Church of Arras with fields, woodlands, the King grants possessions and immunities to the Church of Arras, villages, and mills: it was not difficult for him to persuade the King to enrich the same with more ample possessions and immunities. This the King not only did, but also wholly exempted this Church from the secular yoke and jurisdiction. Furthermore, at the request of Vindicianus, the King confirmed this privilege in solemn documents, which also Pope John the Fifth, in the first year of his pontificate, when petitioned by the King, approved, confirmed by the Popes: and so our Vindicianus, together with many Bishops, signed it, as both the King and the Pontiff commanded: whence it is clearly evident how great was the influence and authority he enjoyed at that time among the princes for promoting the glory of God.

[9] But Ebroin, thirsting for human blood, had already previously relegated Saint Leodegar, whom he pursued with irreconcilable hatred, to the house of a certain Chrodebert, from which after some months he ordered him to be dragged out by four horsemen, after Saint Leodegar was killed and cruelly hauled through deserted and pathless places. There one of the horsemen, drawing his sword, beheaded the most innocent man. The body stood with its head cut off (wonderful to tell) resting on its knees for the space of a full hour, until the barbarian struck down the trunk with a kick of his foot: who at the same moment experienced the present vengeance of the great God. The body was taken up and buried by the wife of Chrodebert in a small oratory, not far from the village of Hursinga, which is situated at the border of the diocese of Arras. In that place, through the intercession and merits of this Martyr, God performed so many and such prodigious miracles that very many sick people were healed of all kinds of diseases. When that report reached the royal court at Compiegne, where also Ansoald of Poitiers, Ermenecharus of Autun, and other Bishops were present, it impelled Vindicianus, who was also present, to search carefully for the body of the Martyr with all diligence and zeal, and to keep it in his possession once found, since it had been killed and buried in his diocese. But God, who had previously granted him the bones of Saint Maxellendis as a special favor, indicated by certain signs that it was His pleasure that the relics of Saint Leodegar should be entrusted to the venerable Ansoald. Nor did Ebroin long survive so many murders; who, by the just judgment of God, and after Ebroin was murdered, since he did not restrain himself from his crimes, was murdered by a certain Hermenfrid and paid the terrible penalties for his misdeeds. But in truth, since King Theodoric was also drawn into complicity in the guilt, because it was believed that with his connivance both Leodegar was killed and the other crimes committed by Ebroin were tolerated; the Bishops resolved that Vindicianus should approach the King and freely explain to him Saint Vindicianus, at the request of the Bishops what enormous sins would hold him bound before God, unless, led by timely repentance, he came to his senses and hastened to better counsels. Here Vindicianus, although he was well aware how dangerous it would be (according to the Satirist's saying) "to scrape the ears of kings with biting truth," nevertheless preferring the public welfare to his private interest, fearlessly undertook this commission, harsh though it was. After, therefore, he came into the sight of the King, full of confidence before the nobles and the many he admonishes the King to repentance and expiation of his crime, who were present, the Bishop began to speak with such fervor and eloquence that he seemed at once, from the very beginning, not without the manifest aid of the Holy Spirit, to have moved the minds of the King and all his hearers and wholly carried them over to his opinion. In the course of his address, he entered upon that part of his speech in which he said: "That it is the duty of the priest to admonish the guilty, lest he die in his guilt, and the priest be punished for him. That it behooves the King to receive these admonitions with fair ears, on account of the inhuman murder of Saint Leodegar the Martyr, perpetrated with his knowledge: that this crime was so great and horrible that the Bishops assembled at this Synod were at a loss as to what poultice should be applied to so dangerous a wound: that the King must with all submission be reconciled to God and acknowledge his guilt and say with the just Job (who was also once a prince in his land): by the example of Job 'I have not hidden my sin, but have proclaimed it before all the people.' Job 31:33 Finally, and of David that he must imitate King David in a similar matter, and openly confess his guilt, and use these words with him: 'Come, let us adore and fall down before God, let us weep before the Lord who made us.' Psalm 94:6, 2 Kings 12:13 So that the King, like David, might deserve to hear from heaven: 'Behold, because you repent of your sin, it is remitted to you: and you shall not die.'" These and other admonitions, drawn from the inmost depths of his soul, Vindicianus delivered with great feeling, not to put the King to shame, but to lead him to the acknowledgment of his guilt and to true repentance. In which matter he was granted his wish: with a happy outcome for the King, judging the rebuke of this holy Bishop to be just, submitted himself to his statutes and commands to such a degree that the hearers wondered whether Vindicianus was more free in reproving or Theodoric more ready in obeying.

[10] For the rest, for the expiation of his sins, the King is ordered to build a new monastery for Benedictine monks near Therouanne of the Morini, he commands the monastery of Therouanne to be built, with a sufficient endowment added. Likewise, since by shedding the blood of the divine Martyr Leodegar, he had disturbed the public peace of the Church, long since established in the diocese of Arras by the sacred sermons of the divine Vedast, Vindicianus enjoined upon him that he should adorn his monastery of Arras (afterward called the Vedastine) which he at that time governed by the permission of the Prince and the Clergy, with walls and buildings, and more ample possessions and privileges. Theodoric not only complied with these commands, but also pronounced that monastery to be immune and free henceforth and the Vedastine to be endowed, from royal power and secular jurisdiction, with documents and charters on this matter confirmed by Vindicianus and the other Prelates who were present, at his command: He went to Rome and secured exemption from episcopal jurisdiction: indeed Vindicianus, lest he seem to be outdone by the King in conferring so great a benefit, also exempted this monastery from episcopal jurisdiction. And since he venerated the Apostolic See with singular obedience and submission, he hastened to Rome, and before Pope Sergius laid down the care and burden of the Vedastine monastery, both for himself and for his successor Bishops: so that it should henceforth be only under the protection of the Apostolic See. Sergius assented, and ordered bulls to be issued, dated in the third Indiction: which were signed by Constantine and George (who after Sergius wore the papal tiara) and by John, Bishop of Porto, and Boniface, likewise a Bishop and also Counselor. These things were done in the year of the Lord six hundred and ninety.

[11] Moreover, Vindicianus, to advance the ecclesiastical

always intent upon advancing ecclesiastical interests, having found a suitable place at the village of Hunecourt on the very border of Francia, inspired by a certain divine breeze, he builds the monastery of Humecourt: he built a monastery. To it he assigned extensive estates and other goods for sustaining ascetics of both sexes who had gathered there from various provinces, to serve God Almighty under regular discipline and the patronage of Saint Peter, Prince of the Apostles. So Vindicianus determined, having summoned several Bishops for this purpose, together with Blessed Lambert, Bishop of Maastricht on the Meuse. He also obtained from the Supreme Pontiff John certain charters pertaining to the advantage of his monastery, which were drawn up in Rome in the second year of his pontificate. Not long afterward, Almefridus and his wife Childeberta enlarged this monastery with their possessions, which were by no means inconsiderable, because their daughter Auriana, with the assent of Vindicianus, had been appointed Abbess of that place.

[12] At that time, by the special grace of God, many and frequent miracles were being performed, which were ascribed to the merits and prayers of Blessed Eusebia. She was the daughter of Blessed Rictrude. And so, on account of the immense multitude of people flocking to the village of Hamage on pilgrimage, the Abbess Gertrude applied all diligence and zeal to enlarging the space of her church, so that it might be capable of receiving so many pilgrims. Hence she earnestly entreated Vindicianus to consecrate it and at the same time to elevate from the ground the bodies of Blessed Eusebia and her aunt. He excused himself on account of the serious occupations by which he was entirely detained at that time. Nevertheless he sent there Hatta, the Vedastine Abbot, with some other Prelates. These, after a three-day fast and copious prayers, observed a certain hand similar to a human one moving the caskets of these holy women, as though by that sign they were being warned that these relics were to be translated elsewhere. When this was completed with the customary ceremonies, [he dedicates the church of Hamage and elevates the bodies of Saints Eusebia and Gertrude.] Vindicianus at last arrived for the appointed day of consecration, and dedicated that church to the Virgin Mother of God. And soon, after the most sacred Sacrifice of the Mass had been chanted, with great pomp and the utmost eagerness of spirit, he translated these venerable bones to the designated place.

g. In Upper Picardy.

i. In the year 676.

p. Sergius was crowned on the very day of the Nativity of Christ at the end of the year 687, whose third year corresponds to the third Indiction and the year 690 noted below.

q. Between Sergius and Constantine there were three Pontiffs: the latter was consecrated in the year 708, and was succeeded in the year 714 by Gregory II, whose Life we illustrated on the eleventh of February.

r. Hunecourt is on the borders of the territory of Cambrai, Artois, and Picardy, near the Scheldt, which its founder Almefridus offered to Saint Bertin on the eighth of February in the second year of Theodoric, the year of Christ 690, and King Theodoric confirmed on the first of April in the fourteenth year of his reign, the year of Christ 693. So Iperius in his manuscript Chronicle.

s. Saint Eusebia is venerated on the sixteenth of March, where these things are accurately reported and the matter of Hamage is treated.

t. She had previously been married to Ingomarus, an illustrious man.

u. Rather, the great-grandmother of Saint Gertrude of Hamage, who is venerated on the sixth of December.

CHAPTER III

The death of Saint Vindicianus. Elevation and veneration of the body: miracles.

[13] Hitherto Vindicianus had accomplished so many and such great things for the house of God that he may rightly seem to have surpassed or certainly equaled all other Bishops of his age in his benefactions. Intent upon doing good to all, For in the whole course of his life, he shrank from no expense or labor by which he might fill the churches and monasteries of his diocese with secular and spiritual goods, and win as many ascetics of both sexes as possible for Christ. Finally, since according to the Wise Man's saying, "The life of the speaker persuades, not his speech," he himself seemed to take particular care of this one thing: that having fulfilled the office of a good Pastor, he might lead his flock by word and example to all piety and virtue; nor did he meanwhile cease to distribute his private resources, which were certainly not inconsiderable, with a munificent hand among the needy and afflicted, and in this manner to obey the saying of the Gospel oracle, and to lay up for himself a treasure that would never perish in heaven. Luke 12:33 While he did this, having won far and wide a distinguished reputation, and now that the better and more vigorous years of his life had gradually slipped away, when he had at last grown old, he resolved to return to his old estate at Esquavin, and there, far removed from all the tumult and noise of the world, to pursue true Philosophy, which is the meditation on death. In that solitude, now devoting himself to prayer in the nearby chapel of Saint Martin, he withdraws to prepare for approaching death. now conversing on Mont-Saint-Eloi with those Clerics whom he had brought to the regular life, he was accustomed to spend his time with great sweetness and tranquility of soul. Here, with a brave spirit, having despised and long since renounced all pleasures, and intent solely upon immortal things, he seemed in a way to taste beforehand the heavenly delights, so much so that, yearning for that supreme and eternal good, he frequently sighed, and with the Apostle Paul, preferred to be freed from the prison of the body and to be with Christ. Philippians 1:23

[14] He sets out for Brussels, Meanwhile, on account of certain matters of great importance, with his health already failing, he set out for the city of Brussels, which at that time belonged to his diocese, where he was seized by a slow fever, by which, warned that death was not far off, he promptly summoned his household, he falls into a fever: already long instructed in all obedience and the fear of God, and consoled them with an effective address: to whom he also imparted his blessing, which from so great a man could not fail to be of exceptional weight. Among his final commands he determined he chooses his burial place: that after his death, the funeral should be carried to the oratory on Mont-Saint-Eloi, which is not far from Arras, and that he should be buried there: where also the body of Honoratus, his recently deceased Archdeacon, was resting. For Vindicianus venerated that place above all, on account of the most famous reputation and memory of Saint Eligius, Bishop of Noyon, with whom he had lived there most familiarly, and he could not bear to be entirely separated from him even after death. Having thus arranged his affairs, amid the prayers, tears, and sighs of his people, Vindicianus expired on the fifth day before the Ides of March. He dies on 11 March. The body, as he had ordered, placed in a coffin and carried with an honorable procession and mournful chant to the hill of Saint Eligius, was deposited by the Bishops and Prelates who were present in the prepared tomb: he is buried on Mont-Saint-Eloi where it rested until, divine Providence so determining, it was raised from the ground on account of the very frequent miracles which occurred at that place through the merits of so great a Pontiff.

[15] Since this region, under the Kings of France and its particular Lords, had long flourished in peace and riches, it can scarcely be believed how thickly Mont-Saint-Eloi was inhabited, both by ecclesiastical and secular people who had flocked there for the sake of religion. For this reason Alegarius, the seventeenth Bishop of Arras in order, a man most famous both for the holiness of his life and for various embassies, also wished to be buried there after his death: which fell on the seventh day before the Kalends of July of the year 830. So great was the celebrity of this place that Hincmar, Bishop of Laon (as is read in the archives of this Church), moved by the public fame of the many prodigies frequently performed at the tombs of the Blessed Autbert and Vindicianus, sent there his niece, who was deprived of her sight, and commended her to our Bishop John. A blind girl, the niece of Bishop Hincmar, is given sight: And it pleased God that the girl should be healed by the merits and prayers of these Blessed ones, with her sight restored. Whereupon John, in a letter written to Hincmar, as he had been asked by him, testified that these blessed Confessors were, throughout their whole life, admirable for their outstanding virtue and learning: but that Vindicianus especially, commended for his divine zeal and most fervent sermons, had outshone the other Bishops of his time by word and example.

[16] But as there is vicissitude in all human affairs, these tranquil and blessed times were followed by others far more turbulent and at the same time most calamitous. For the Normans and Danes, still pagans, carried by a hostile fleet, like a most rapid torrent, poured far and wide through the entire province, and with no one resisting, destroyed with fire and sword all buildings, churches, monasteries, villages, Mont-Saint-Eloi is devastated by the Normans: castles, and fortified cities, and among them Therouanne, Cambrai, Arras, together with the sacred and profane buildings of the neighboring Mont-Saint-Eloi. Everywhere one could see churches pillaged, precious ornaments carried off, Priests slaughtered, ascetics of both sexes as fugitives without a leader, without a pastor or guardian, wandering here and there through fields and forests, roaming about; or hiding trembling in caves. Indeed this calamity became all the more atrocious because no one dared resist the insane fury of the barbarians, who monstrously mixed everything with slaughter and flames: indeed Charles the Simple was compelled to leave a certain province of France for them to inhabit, which even today is called Normandy after their name. When all places had been devastated in this manner, Mont-Saint-Eloi also, once famous for so many inhabitants, prodigies, and sacred monuments, since it had been reduced to a wretched solitude, it happened that, with shrubs and thickets growing up everywhere, the whole place became overgrown with forest, and consequently, in the space of sixty years that followed, the tomb of the divine Vindicianus, overgrown with brambles, was entirely unknown to all as to where it lay hidden.

[17] At length, after so long an interval of time had elapsed, it pleased God (who rewards His faithful servants not only in heaven, but also wills that their relics should be held in esteem and honor on earth) that the monument of Blessed Vindicianus should be found again by a wonderful occurrence. For around the year of the Lord 940, under Fulbert, Bishop of Arras and Cambrai, around the year 940 since the study of the liberal arts was flourishing exceedingly at Arras, several students or Clerics, distinguished by their birth, with the permission of their teachers, went out together to this mount for the purpose of relaxation. When they found the whole place scorched with brambles and thorns, roused by a certain youthful ardor, they began to run here and there through the thickets and shrubs, in search of certain berries suitable for making ink. Here one

of them, a student rashly digging at the tomb of Saint Vindicianus is blinded: not knowing that he was standing among the ruinous debris of an old church, perhaps led by excessive curiosity, rashly attempted to dig at the tomb of Blessed Vindicianus with the iron tip of his staff, and since he was behaving with less than due reverence, he was suddenly deprived of the sight of both eyes. Then the wretch, stricken by so great a misfortune, began to groan and wail, while his companions trembled and urged him to hasten to divine aid and to supplicate as a humble petitioner the guardian spirit of the place. The blind youth obeyed these warnings, and earnestly begged his companions, seized by equal fear, to lead him back to the monument of Blessed Vindicianus and set him there. There, prostrate on the ground and detesting what he had done, pouring forth tears abundantly, he openly declared himself unworthy to touch this consecrated place which he himself had violated by his rashness. through his merits he receives his sight: Nor did he cease to lament and invoke the name of the Lord, with the prayers and sighs of his astonished companions joining in, until he himself, with Blessed Vindicianus no doubt interceding, received his sight from heaven. And so, with the utmost grief changed into the utmost joy, those students returned to the city exultant, and celebrating the divine praises with deserved proclamation. When so great a prodigy was published, one can scarcely believe how variously the hearts of the citizens of Arras were affected. For some feared the avenging hands of Blessed Vindicianus: others were flooded with immense joy; the devotion of the people of Arras is aroused: that so extraordinary a miracle from God had occurred within their borders: and both groups hastened with a great concourse to this mount, to win for themselves the patronage and favor of their divine Guardian.

[18] But Bishop Fulbert, as soon as he heard of this, with tears falling from his eyes for joy and his hands stretched toward heaven, began to give thanks drawn from the depths of his heart to God Almighty, for deigning to adorn his Church with so great a gift. Nor did he cause himself any delay, but by letter, having summoned the neighboring Bishops and Prelates, by Bishop Fulbert together with the nobles and a great crowd of the mixed multitude, he went to Mont-Saint-Eloi with the greatest pomp. The following night, when the Clergy had spent it all singing psalms and hymns in sweetest harmony, with the sleepless people occupied in pouring forth their vows and prayers; 25 June in the morning, Fulbert, at sunrise on the seventh day before the Kalends of July of that same year, approached with the greatest reverence the monument of the most holy Father, Blessed Vindicianus: and having lifted its cover, he found a certain inscription which clearly indicated that Vindicianus was resting in that place. For nearby lay, although separately, the entombed Blessed Honoratus, once his Archdeacon, whose casket Fulbert did not touch. But only with all submission and veneration did he raise from the ground, by solemn rite, the relics of Saint Vindicianus, the body of Saint Vindicianus enclosed in a silver case, placed upon the altar: and placed them in a prepared silver case, which he set upon an altar recently built by himself; so that this venerable Elevation might make the memory and tomb of so great a Pontiff more celebrated and more august for posterity, since it seemed to have aroused incredible devotion among the people, on account of the singular benefits bestowed from heaven upon those who supplicated there through his merits and intercession. Fulbert, in the same place, having cleared it of thorns and forests, a new church dedicated to him: with great effort and expense raised from the foundations a new church, and having consecrated it to Saints Peter and Paul and Saint Vindicianus, he entrusted it to eight Clerics, or Canons, eight Canons established: as custodians to guard it.

CHAPTER IV

Various miracles. Relics carried away and brought back.

[19] In such a state of affairs, a certain woman of Arras, hearing of the miracles which had divinely occurred to various persons A blind man is given sight who implored the aid of Vindicianus, with full hope and confidence devoutly dedicated to Saint Vindicianus her only son, who had been blind for many years, and immediately led him to his tomb. When the boy, weeping and sighing, had humbly prostrated himself at the tomb, he placed a burning candle on his altar. Whereupon, to the amazement of all who were present, his eyes were opened. And he, beholding the sun, which he had long so greatly desired to see, with no guide, and not without lengthy thanksgiving, joyfully led his mother home. To this prodigy were added still greater ones: for a noble and wealthy matron of the territory of Ponthieu, who had long been deprived of the use of her eyes, was planning to go to Rome, called to the certain hope that she would receive her sight at the tombs and relics of the Apostles and Martyrs. She therefore constantly besought God with assiduous prayers to prosper her journey, which she had resolved to begin the next day. But that night in her sleep she was admonished by an Angel and a blind woman: to abandon this plan of going to Rome, and by the shortcut of a shorter journey, to proceed with offerings to the monument of the divine Vindicianus: for it would come to pass that there she would obtain her wish. The woman obeyed the angelic warnings, and without delay, on account of the very slight health of her body resulting from the blindness itself, mounting a carriage, she arrived there, filled with good hope and joy. As soon as she was brought before his altar, and with sincere humility of soul pressing frequent kisses, behold, amid prayers and sighs, she received not only complete health of her eyes, but also of the rest of her limbs; which, after God, she truly ascribed to the merits of Saint Vindicianus, and it can scarcely be expressed in words with how great praises and proclamations, having returned home cheerfully with her retinue and having published the prodigy everywhere, she continued for the remaining space of her whole life. Other miracles followed, flowing from the same source, as we shall briefly relate.

[20] Baldwin, Count of Flanders, the fourth of that name, had taken the city of Valenciennes from Count Arnulf, and the Emperor Henry the Second besieged it. In this war Robert, King of France, also involved himself, together with Richard, Duke of Normandy, who brought with him infinite forces of his Norman people. As he was marching his hostile army through Artois, some Norman brigands, straying from the standards, most cruelly devastated everything they met, whether sacred or profane. And when it came to the attention of some that a great quantity of furnishings had been carried to the church of Saint Eligius by the farmers, and that other gifts of great value, dedicated to the monument of Vindicianus, had also been collected there, Normans breaking into the church of Mont-Saint-Eloi, those most dissolute men, incited by their innate greed for plundering and seizing, immediately rushed there and attempted a forced entry. But they were most shamefully repelled by the Canons, who resisted valiantly. In that engagement, one of the Canons fell, struck by a hostile missile. When the rest, having carried the corpse back into the church, were preparing the funeral: behold, another soldier, driven by dire fury, having climbed onto the roof and broken through the upper floor, dropped armed into the Church, and with drawn sword rushed with great force upon the Canons, who were intent upon arranging the funeral. There, although they were stunned by the unexpected event, [they slaughter the Canons and plunder everything at the altar and tomb of Saint Vindicianus] they nevertheless withstood the attack of the frenzied man for so long until the rest of the enemy host, having broken down the doors, violently burst into the church. In that tumult other Canons were also killed, and all the vessels together with the precious ornaments were plundered, and the whole church, together with the altar and tomb of Saint Vindicianus itself, was drenched with human blood: in short, no kind of savagery is recorded as having been omitted by those barbarians, raging with their inborn ferocity and avarice. But the impious murderers did not long carry such a great crime with impunity. For they had scarcely departed from that place, about to divide the booty and the sacred spoils, when they tremblingly perceived that divine vengeance was at hand, they are miserably punished: with the great Divinity atrociously punishing the insult inflicted upon His Confessor. For some, seized by the devil, were monstrously tortured; others, with their heads swollen like gourds, were dashed to the ground, exhaling a most foul stench from their blaspheming mouths: others again, seized by a sluggish torpor of all their limbs, were tormented by intolerable pains from a certain sacred and hidden fire. Finally, all, as the torment increased, like raging bulls, began to rush headlong here and there through fields and forests. Indeed some tore out their own tongues with their own hands: many cut their hamstrings with a sword, wailing with a lamentable cry that they had committed unspeakable outrages against God and His holy ministers. But the rest, who had not involved themselves in that sacrilege, terrified by such a spectacle, and not without reason fearing the avenging hands of Vindicianus, congratulated one another that they had not been participants in so great a crime. Moreover, when the army had already departed from the borders of Artois, Richard at last learned what had happened. And he immediately issued an edict that all goods, however small, by the Duke's order they restore them plundered by his men, should forthwith be entirely restored to the Church of Saint Eligius. All obeyed, sufficiently taught by their misfortune how hard it was to kick against the goad.

[21] keeping a small bell, But one of these, a rascal of more obstinate spirit, kept in his possession a small bronze bell taken from the sacred place, in contempt of the Prince's edict. And although this thing might seem to be of small moment, he did not escape divine justice. For the wretch, seized by holy fire, nearly lost the burned half of his body. he is afflicted with holy fire: But when, thus affected, he lay on the ground like a dead man, many, moved by compassion, approached him, wishing to bring aid. But that evil, rejecting any remedy, grew worse and worse, until the man, unable to endure the pain, openly confessed his theft, and redeemed it by offering a gift of double the value. having confessed his guilt, he is freed. For having recovered the soundness of both his mind and body, he hung a silver bell in place of the bronze one at the monument of Saint Vindicianus. Whence it is clear that God, by these signs, in His clemency admonishes the good to honor with due obedience and respect His friends, now endowed with heaven; but deters the wicked, lest they dare anything similar with the Normans in the future; so much so that by Saint Vindicianus, threateningly brandishing this scourge against such sacrilegious persons, that verse might rightly seem applicable:

"Learn justice, being warned, and do not scorn the Gods."

These four stupendous miracles which we have now recounted are reported at length by Walter, the first Abbot of the Holy Sepulchre at Cambrai, but more briefly by Balderic the historian. He was the secretary of Gerard and Lietbert, Bishops of Arras and Cambrai. Moreover, both of them, namely that Abbot and Balderic, abundantly attest in their writings how greatly they were indignant that the illustrious Acts of Bishop Vindicianus were wrapped in an unworthy silence; whether this was

to be ascribed to the slothful negligence of the writers of that age, or to the devastation of the cities of this province by the Normans and Danes, committed more than once, or finally to the ruinous injuries of our civil wars.

[22] This also seems worthy of mention: that a certain pious and learned man, around the year one thousand two hundred and forty (as is gathered from manuscript Breviaries), composed a hymn in praise of our Patron, whose beginning is: "Our leader, Vindicianus," etc. In that hymn, moreover, by these words which follow, "That in one deed they may prove thrice three miracles," that author seems to imply that God once wished His Confessor to be made illustrious by nine remarkable miracles. Hence perhaps it is A lame man is healed that Abbot Bulletus of Saint Eligius ordered the image of a limping man to be engraved on the silver case which he had caused to be made, who, with a dislocated hip, having invoked Vindicianus, returned home healed.

[23] How widely celebrated his name was everywhere also appears from this: that on the fifteenth day before the Kalends of November of the year one thousand and thirty, Bishop Gerard, the first of that name, preparing to consecrate the Cathedral Church of Cambrai, which he himself had raised from the foundations, relics carried to Cambrai, caused the bier of Saint Vindicianus to be carried there among the many relics of Saints, and to be honorably placed in the Episcopal seat, in memory, that is, of the Church once most wisely and most holily administered by him. We also read that the same case was carried to various places for the purpose of gracing other more solemn occasions, and to other places: as is evident from the donation of the manor of Lille made to us by Baldwin the Pious, Count.

[24] As the centuries flowed on in continuous succession, at length those times were reached in which fell the wretched murder of John, Duke of Burgundy, inhumanely slain by treachery by Charles the Dauphin. On account of which, between the Burgundian and Orleanist Princes, a most mournful civil dissension blazed forth, and during time of war which utterly overthrew all of Gaul and these provinces. And since the English had entered into alliance in this war, it was prolonged and extended over many years. Wherefore Michael Dalennes, the Abbot who then presided over the monastery of Saint Eligius, ordered the more precious furnishings of his house to be carried to safe and fortified places. But since among the principal ornaments of his Church there was none more excellent than the case of Saint Vindicianus, none more sacred, he determined to the Douai refuge: that it should be conveyed to Douai and deposited at the Eligian asylum: in which place it remained for the space of thirty-four years thereafter. At length, after that time had elapsed, Jean Bullot, Michael's successor, in order to satisfy the frequent entreaties of his religious, resolved to retrieve this sacred deposit from the city of Douai and restore it to its ancient dwelling; a new case but first he had a new case of exquisite workmanship fabricated, distinguished by silver, gold, and gems with remarkable artistry. After this, it was agreed between Abbot Bullot and Hugo de Cayeu, Bishop of Arras, that the return or translation of this sacred pledge should be made to the Cathedral Church of the Virgin Mother of God on the Nones of the month of July in the year one thousand four hundred and fifty-three. placed at Arras in the year 1453 When that day arrived, Hugo, in the presence of the Apostolic Legate, who was then at Arras, and the Vedastine Abbot, and Martelanus, and other Prelates, and the whole community of Saint Eligius, and a very great crowd of people of every rank, removed the relics of our Saint Vindicianus from the old case and, with every honor applied and due reverence, wrapped in pure silk cloth, translated them into the new bier and properly arranged them. Meanwhile, as the choir sang, the organ and other instruments sounded most sweetly. Here one could see the most ardent piety of our religious and of all the people, who, kissing the bier and even shedding tears of joy, could scarcely be satisfied; indeed, having broken up the wooden covering of the old case, carried in solemn procession back to Mont-Saint-Eloi. all vied to carry home some fragment for the sake of devotion: the Bishop, moreover, lest he seem to yield to others in honoring so great a Pontiff, solemnly escorted the case with all the Clergy to the suburban orchards, while all the bells, both of the Cathedral church and of the Vedastine monastery, rang with a joyful sound. Thence the procession began to proceed with great splendor toward Mont-Saint-Eloi. Leading the way was the urban cohort of regular Crossbowmen together with their King and Constable, with banners unfurled and standards fluttering, not without the pleasing clangor of trumpets caressing the breezes and the ears. Following in proper order were all the religious, chanting canticles and hymns, together with their Bishop, who, like David of old going before the Ark of the Lord, abundantly revealed in face and gesture the spiritual joy which stirred within his breast. Finally, closing the procession, under a very serene sky, was such a multitude of people that the entire military road could be seen strewn and covered with people. After they arrived at the church of Saint Eligius, the consecrated case was most reverently placed in a splendid tabernacle recently prepared for this purpose. this Translation celebrated on 7 July. And so that the memory of so great a Pontiff might be more august for posterity, it was decreed by the Abbot and Chapter that the anniversary of this translation should henceforth be celebrated on the Nones of July, the day of the Elevation, which was also annually observed on the seventh day before the Kalends of July, being suppressed.

h. In the year 1419.

CHAPTER V

The various cult of Saint Vindicianus. Thieves punished.

[25] Weekly recitation of the Office, Furthermore it was established that once every week a simple Office of three Lessons should be said, if no other impediment occurred. This was perpetually observed thereafter, until in this age the Roman Breviary was adopted by our community under the Reverend Abbot Adrian du Quesnoy. For then it was prescribed or a sung Mass, that once a week after Prime a Mass of Saint Vindicianus should be sung, provided other occupations permitted. Moreover, the Apostolic Legate, whom we mentioned above, granted an indulgence of one hundred days to those who, on the recurring annual feast of this translation, Indulgences granted by the Apostolic Legate, or otherwise on whatever more solemn feasts of Saint Vindicianus throughout the year, should visit these places to venerate the relics of Saint Vindicianus. Likewise, two years later, Cardinal Nicholas, with the title of the Holy Cross in Jerusalem, by the Cardinal of the Holy Cross, who was then occupied at Arras in arranging the terms of peace between Charles the Seventh, King of France, and Philip, Duke of Burgundy, in order to arouse and increase the zeal and devotion of the people, bestowed equal terms upon all who, having made their confession with a contrite heart, or having distributed alms to the needy, should come to the church of Saint Eligius within the octave of the Translation to supplicate God and their Patron. Long before, moreover, Innocent the Fourth, in the ninth year of his pontificate, and formerly by Innocent IV and approximately in the year one thousand two hundred and fifty-two of the Incarnate Word, had promulgated an indulgence of forty days to be likewise obtained by those who had devoutly observed his feast.

[26] In our times, after the war that arose between Philip the Second of Spain and Henry the Fourth of France, which was waged for a full four years chiefly in these regions, Relics carried to Arras in procession in the year 1598, not without singular detriment both to Artois and to our monastery, at length at Vervins, the disagreement being resolved, both parties agreed to terms of peace on the day after the Kalends of May in the year one thousand five hundred and ninety-eight: which was at last proclaimed at Arras on the seventh day before the Ides of June. On that day a public procession was instituted with the greatest splendor, at which an infinite multitude of people was present. Among the sacred relics, first the head of Saint Vedast, then the bodies of the same divine Saint, and likewise of Saint Vindicianus and Saint Bertilia, together with the sacred candle of Arras, were carried around. But the case of Vindicianus was carried by six of our religious, wearing their more precious dalmatics, accompanied by domestic servants with splendid torches and censers. Following close behind was Adrian du Quesnoy, Abbot of Saint Eligius, venerable in his mitre and pontifical vestments. But when the procession halted at the august church of the Virgin Mother of God, the bier of Saint Vindicianus was placed upon the altar. There the people immediately with great concourse and devotion began to vie in kissing it, and piously to venerate it. Moreover, the Crossbowmen of Arras had earnestly requested from the people of Mont-Saint-Eloi that they might be permitted to carry this bier on their shoulders in that procession. But it seemed otherwise to the Bishop and the religious, lest perhaps in so great a disorderly crowd, a quarrel or tumult should arise. Although they suffered this rebuff, they nevertheless, with lit torches and various lights displayed, openly showed on that day with what honor and worship they revered Saint Vindicianus, the ancient Patron of their confraternity. For the rest, when the fear of war was removed by the Treaty of Vervins and security was restored to this Province, it was discussed among the Eligians about bringing back the case of Saint Vindicianus from the Channes Asylum to its home, quietly and without any commotion, carried back in solemn procession in the year 1601 and a day was appointed for the twelfth day before the Kalends of July in the year one thousand six hundred and one. But this plan was secretly disclosed to the Crossbowmen by Master Jean le Ricque, who was then the Bailiff of the Monastery. And so on that day they offered our community a splendid carriage, upon which this sacred pledge was placed: and so all, arrayed in military fashion with standards and banners, escorted it to Mont-Saint-Eloi. After they arrived at the village of De le Warde, the Abbot of Saint Eligius was present with all the religious, wearing pontifical vestments: and there the bier was received upon the shoulders of two of the religious who were the more honored among the rest. And immediately the choir, not without tears, breaking forth into psalms and appropriate responsories, began to advance toward the church, and once again this long-desired case was deposited at the high altar, and at the same moment the hymn of Saints Ambrose and Augustine was sung, with the Bishop leading and the organ playing, with incredible spiritual exultation. Meanwhile the inhabitants of the Mount, impelled by no less joy and piety, venerated it with kisses pressed upon it and vows poured forth, congratulating one another even with moist cheeks on the return home of the sacred bones of their divine Guardian. The Crossbowmen, moreover, were entertained with a lavish banquet as a reward for their labors, and presented with an honorable gift by the Bishop. Thence, having returned home with the same pomp, they extolled among their fellow citizens, not without applause, the humanity and munificence of the Eligians.

[27] Before, however, I put an end to this narrative, it seems that the following must by no means be passed over in silence: namely, that Saint Vindicianus has perpetually held this monastery under his special protection: since for many centuries he has preserved the house of Saint Eligius in that state and splendor in which it is still seen to shine today: and its sacred and profane goods, not only against the ancient injuries of wars and of nobles hostile to us, but also

recently against the recent injuries and sacrileges of men of lower standing, not without a swiftly following atrocious vengeance, he has nobly defended. It will not be amiss to briefly record this here, with a comparison of both events made. For just as in the year one thousand and six, this church, filled with precious offerings on account of the frequent miracles performed at the monument of Saint Vindicianus, was completely despoiled by the violently invading Normans, not without much bloodshed, with the design of dividing the acquired booty among themselves; so in our times also, namely in the year one thousand six hundred and twenty-seven, we saw something similar occur. For indeed, a certain wicked band of desperadoes, assembled from Maroeuil and the neighboring village of Esquavin, having ascertained that our principal altar was adorned with every kind of sacred furnishing, thieves in the year 1627, both silver and gilded, for celebrating on the following day the feast of the Assumption of the Virgin Mother of God into heaven, at last undertook the bold and impious deed long since resolved upon and frequently reconsidered in their minds, having also observed a suitable moment on the appointed night, when after the morning prayers had been chanted by the religious, the church was completely empty of people. And so just before dawn those rustic robbers were at the doors with their tools, with which they broke the locks of three doors and all the bolts. Then, having surmounted the walls by three ladders, they also smashed the iron grating, so that access lay open down into the crypt or lower church. Thence, having found the doors of the upper choir open, the church furnishings having been plundered, they made straight for the altar, and with their nefarious hands unworthily handled the Most Sacred Eucharist, removed from its gilded tabernacle. Likewise they seized the silver cross, in which the Sacred Thorn of the Lord was enclosed, together with the images and six candlesticks made of silver, and trembling with haste, they hurried to conceal them in a pit dug in the forest of Esquavin and Gondofridus. Certainly if the Normans of old perpetrated many impious and savage things in plundering the treasure of this Church: the sacrilegious men of Esquavin and Maroeuil do not seem to have yielded to them. For they not only cut up the images and the rest of the silver spoils into various fragments, but also, trampling upon both divine and human law, committed execrable and unspeakable outrages against the venerable Eucharist and the Cross of the Lord's Thorn.

Report has it that the Normans, after the pillage of sacred things, driven by a certain divine and hidden force and not fully in their right minds, were immediately compelled to leave the church which they had profaned. Not otherwise did it befall our countrymen, who, in the manner of thieves trembling at every noise, however slight, terrified they flee: were frightened by the constant motion of the neighboring clock and seized by a kind of panic fear, and leaving behind, out of excessive dread, some silver images above and below the altar, they immediately hurled themselves from that place, with their senses undoubtedly disturbed, each vying to be first.

[28] Again, the Normans, as if after the committed sacrilege tortured by evil spirits with every kind of torment, were immediately forced to bring back what they had seized to the sacred monument: so also our thieves, their minds divinely blinded, while they thought they had buried the stolen vessels in a secret and safe place; the furnishings recovered behold, it happened that on that very day, by the most diligent investigation, they were discovered by the religious and inhabitants of Saint Eligius, and restored to their altar, to which they were dedicated. The Normans indeed, by the just judgment of God, without any delay paid atrocious penalties for their rashness. But our criminals, although for a time they remained at home with impunity, falsely thinking their deed could be concealed; they nevertheless, conscious of so great crimes, were inwardly tormented by perpetual fear, and in reality experienced that there is no heavier torment for criminal men than to carry night and day their own witness in their breast. captured and punished with death Moreover, the Normans had monstrous punishments inflicted upon them by demons: likewise our criminals had their throats strangled by the noose at the hands of public executioners, both at Arras and at Bourbourg, but not before they were nearly killed by the rack and the infamous filth of prisons. In addition, some of the Normans, driven to fury and reduced to madness, are reported to have cut out their own tongues and hamstrung themselves with a sword: the same indeed seems to have befallen one of this gang, whose name was Morontus Durasnel. For the executioner, before he was sent to his wretched cross, first cut off his hand with an axe. Furthermore, a certain one of the Normans, on account of a small bell taken from the sacred place, was by no means able to be freed from the most cruel pains of his entire body, with which he was divinely afflicted, until he had restored it: the same was suffered by the man whom we mentioned above, who had melted down some candlesticks and transformed them into silver plates: which when he then put up for sale in the town of Montreuil in Picardy, he was thrown into prison, and afterward transferred to Arras, he paid with the rope, and not until after his execution were these silver plates restored to the Eligians. They say that Richard, Count of the Normans, having heard of so rigorous a divine punishment upon his men, seriously decreed that all things taken from the monastery should be wholly restored. Which deed of Richard the Most Serene Infanta of Spain, Isabella of Austria, Governess of the Belgian Provinces, seems to have imitated. with the execution prescribed by the Most Serene Isabella. For indeed, having learned of so enormous a sacrilege, she not only sent her Secretary of Audience from the city of Brussels here, to diligently inquire into the whole affair: but also by letter carefully enjoined upon the Most Illustrious Senators of the Chamber of Artois that they should promptly proceed according to law against those convicted of this crime, and make severe examples. Finally, just as formerly the saner part of the Normans, who had abstained from the crime, upon returning afterward to their homeland, narrated to their astonished countrymen what great evils had befallen their thieving companions at Mont-Saint-Eloi from the manifest vengeance of Saint Vindicianus; so also in this age, as soon as the report of the recent sacrilege was spread through Artois and more distant provinces, it can scarcely be said what great reverence seized the minds of good people, who attributed to the sole merits of Saint Vindicianus, after God, both that the sacred relics were recovered and that the rustic robbers were so quickly captured and punished. Certainly from this it is clearly evident that the house of Saint Eligius has been prodigiously defended by its Guardian Patron against the impious attempts and robberies of any adversaries whatsoever, but especially of sacrilegious persons, at all times; so much so that this distich is not unreasonably now used by our community:

"Let posterity learn: behold, from of old Vindicianus As he was, is, and will be, the avenger of robbers."